Max Provence Rosé 2024 IGP Méditerranée

The Distillerie de Lure was founded in 1898 in Forcalquier, in Haute-Provence's Lure mountain region. The original founder is no longer recorded — the 1898 date is documented from a 1935 poster announcing the distillery's 37th anniversary. Paul Ferréoux purchased the operation in 1920 and developed it commercially: in 1924 he created Pastis Paulanis, the direct ancestor of the house's now-headline Henri Bardouin pastis. The business became Distilleries et Domaines de Provence in 1974 under Alain Robert, who modernised production while keeping the artisanal botanical-maceration approach intact.

Forcalquier sits in a region carrying what the French call a patrimoine of mountain herbalism: lavender, thyme, juniper, fennel, sage, gentian, génépi and dozens of less-publicised herbs grow within working distance of the distillery. DDP's recipes use roughly fifty botanicals across the portfolio. Henri Bardouin pastis blends 65 herbs and spices — well above commodity pastis, which typically use a handful. In 1999, after French and EU regulation made it possible, DDP became the first French company to commercially relaunch absinthe, releasing Absente at 55% and the higher-strength Grande Absente at 69%.

The full portfolio runs across pastis (Henri Bardouin), absinthe (Absente at 55%, La Grande Absente at 69%), gentian aperitifs (Gentiane de Lure), peach aperitif (Rinquinquin), orange aperitif (Orange Colombo), almond liqueur (Amandine), thyme liqueur (Farigoule), génépi, vermouth (Vermouth de Forcalquier), and a botanical dry gin (XII). Production today reaches 80 countries from 45 employees on the Forcalquier site. The house also makes the long-handled four-pour absinthe fountains used in classic French service.